TOWARDS EXCELLENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
A VIEW FROM THE UNITED STATES
B. SIMMONS
Department of Teacher Education, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, U.S.A
Abstract. Within the United States, a nationwide debate has been raging over how to best provide
quality education for all learners. Much of this debate, spurred by poor test scores and other
measures of achievement, has centered on the development of national, state and local standards
and assessments for the core disciplines (e.g., mathematics, science, geography). For the most part,
environmental education has been left out of this debate and out of the various standards
development initiatives. Whether one agrees philosophically with academic standards or not, these
standards are determining what is being taught in the classroom. By 1993, environmental
education in the United States found itself in a conundrum. It has always been argued that
environmental education should be interdisciplinary, infused throughout the curriculum.
However, with the new standards, environmental education was in real danger of becoming
marginalized. To address this situation, the North American Association for Environmental
Education (NAAEE) initiated the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education.
Keywords: environmental education, environmental standards
1. Introduction
In any discussion of environmental education in the United States it must be
understood that it is a grassroots movement, characterized by literally thousands
of educators working in schools, colleges, nature centers, zoos, museums,
government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. It must also be
remembered that education in the United States is decentralized. There is no
national curriculum; there are no national exams. Each state determines how
schools will function. Some states have a state-mandated curriculum and
statewide adoption of textbooks. Others allow each school district to determine
its own curriculum and select its own teaching materials. Consequently, when
the education system in the United States is discussed, let alone environmental
education in the United States, that discussion must be framed in terms of
general trends.
Although the field has struggled with defining environmental education in a
meaningful way, the most commonly accepted working definitions continue to
draw heavily from the Belgrade Charter (UNESCO, 1976) and the Tbilisi
Declaration (UNESCO, 1978). As the field has evolved, the principles
promoted in these two documents have been researched, critiqued, revisited, and
expanded. They still stand as a strong foundation for a shared view of the core
concepts and skills that environmentally literate citizens need.
Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 123: 517–524, 2000.
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2000
Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
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Although at times it may seem difficult for everyone to agree upon the exact
wording of a definition, the practice of environmental education in the United
States is characterized by some essential elements (Disinger and Monroe, 1994):
• Environmental education is based in knowledge about ecological and social
systems. It draws on and integrates knowledge from disciplines that span the
natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
• Environmental education considers humans and their creations to be a part
of the environment. Along with biological and physical phenomena, EE
considers social, economic, political, technological, cultural, historical,
moral, and aesthetic aspects of environmental issues.
• Environmental education emphasizes the critical thinking and problemsolving skills needed for informed personal decisions and public action.
• Environmental education emphasizes the role of attitudes, values, and
commitments in shaping environmental issues. It acknowledges that
environmental issues are not strictly scientific in nature. Recognizing the
feelings, values, attitudes, and perceptions at the heart of environmental
issues is an essential step in understanding them, and a precursor to
accepting responsibility for exploring, analyzing, and resolving them.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between
environmental education and education reform in the United States and to
describe the efforts of the National Project for Excellence in Environmental
Education to develop Excellence in Environmental Education – Guidelines for
Learning (K-12) (North American Association for Environmental
Education,1999).
2. Environmental Education and Education Reform
Standards, accountability, assessment, transdisciplinary learning, and systemic
change each describe one of the many themes of the current education reform
movement in the United States. Although the development of academic
standards at both the national and state levels is only one of the pieces of
education reform, it has garnered much public attention and scrutiny.
The calls for standards setting were first heralded with the publication, in
1983, of A Nation at Risk. It became common to call into question the very
structure of American education. In at least partial response to the concerns
raised in A Nation at Risk, each of the core curriculum areas (i.e., science,
geography, mathematics, English-language Arts, history, civics) developed a set
of voluntary national standards. These standards, many of which have been
adapted or adopted at the state level, delineate the knowledge and skill bases of
their respective fields. They are designed to define what students should know
and be able to do in order to be considered geographically literate, scientifically
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literate, mathematically literate, etc. by the time they graduate from secondary
school.
Although obviously written to address the needs of specific discipline based
areas, these standards do, to one degree or another, address environmental
education interests. Taken singly, the standards of any one discipline allow for
environmental learnings. For example, ecological knowledge such as the
components of Earth’s physical systems: the atmosphere, lithosphere,
hydrosphere, and biosphere; how Earth-sun relations affect conditions on Earth;
and the physical characteristics of places (e.g., landforms, bodies of water, soil,
vegetation, and weather and climate) are included within Geography for Life:
National Geography Standards (1994). Similarly, understandings of
measurement, patterns and relationships, and statistics and probability, all
elements of Curriculum Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989),
are also important to environmental literacy.
Conversely, environmental education programs can be used to meet
discipline-based standards. Because environmental education is by its very
nature interdisciplinary, it can help students meet the high standards set by the
traditional school disciplines (e.g., science, civics, geography, history).
Additionally, integrated throughout the curriculum, environmental education has
the potential of furthering the general education reform agenda. Conley (1993)
argues that education reform must address the past failure to teach process skills
which “led to the inevitable fragmentation of knowledge into ‘infobits,’ and to
graduates who appeared unable to apply much of what they had learned to realworld situations.” Environmental education with its focus on developing a wellinformed, responsible citizenry “has the potential as an exemplary vehicle for
what many believe all of education should consider its primary function:
furthering the development of higher-order skills – critical thinking, creative
thinking, integrative thinking, problem-solving” (Disinger, 1993).
Although environmental education can effectively and efficiently facilitate
the learning of specific concepts and process skills, it also provides an often
missed opportunity for synthesis of materials that crosses disciplinary
boundaries, connecting learnings to create a whole. The explicit focus of
environmental education on the integration of knowledge and skills is one of the
primary distinguishing factors between it and a traditional view of curricular
disciplines.
Because environmental education is, by its very nature,
interdisciplinary, the synthesis of learnings across subject material is a deliberate
and essential outcome.
Environmental education has the potential of linking the K-12 curriculum,
providing the opportunity to meet the requirements of the core disciplines by
creating a comprehensive and cohesive program of study. With this said, it must
be emphasized that environmental education is more than a useful theme that
can tie units of learning together or an effective pedagogy that makes learning
more meaningful.
Environmental education is essential education.
Environmental literacy must be a goal of our society, and environmental
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education must play an integral role throughout our educational system – at the
national level, at the state level, and in each and every classroom.
3. National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education
The National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education, sponsored by
the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), was
initiated in 1993 to provide an opportunity for environmental education to
become a voice in the national education reform agenda. The National Project
for Excellence in Environmental Education is a multi-year program designed to
establish guidelines for the development of balanced, scientifically accurate, and
comprehensive environmental education programs and to identify and provide
examples of high quality environmental education practice. The Project has
initiated four interrelated efforts: 1) publication of Environmental Education
Materials: Guidelines for Excellence (1996); 2) creation of a three volume series
of educators’ resource guides to quality environmental education materials (The
Environmental Education Collection – A Review of Resources for Educators); 3)
development of Excellence in Environmental Education – Guidelines for
Learning (K-12) (1999); and 4) development of a set of recommendations for the
preparation of teachers and other environmental educators.
3.1. EXCELLENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION – GUIDELINES
FOR LEARNING (K-12)
Excellence in Environmental Education – Guidelines for Learning (K-12) was
developed to provide students, parents, educators, administrators, policy makers,
and the public a set of common voluntary guidelines for environmental
education. The guidelines support state and local environmental education
efforts by:
• Setting expectations for performance and achievement in fourth, eighth, and
twelfth grades;
• Suggesting a framework for effective and comprehensive environmental
education programs and curricula;
• Demonstrating how environmental education can be used to meet standards
set by the traditional disciplines and to give students opportunities to
synthesize knowledge and experience across disciplines; and
• Defining the aims of environmental education.
Guidelines for Learning has been developed over the last four years with the
input of literally thousands of teachers, school administrators, environmental
educators, scientists, and parents, as well as from a variety of professional
organizations and government agencies. Developed through an extensive
process of review and comment, they set a standard for high-quality
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environmental education in schools and other educational settings across the
country. They draw on some of the best thinking in the field and its rich history
to outline the core ingredients for environmental education.
3.2. ESSENTIAL UNDERPINNINGS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Environmental education builds from a core of key principles that inform its
approach to education. Some of these important underpinnings are:
• Systems – Systems help make sense of a large and complex world. A system
is made up of parts that can be understood separately. The whole, however,
is understood only by understanding the relationships among the parts. The
human body can be understood as a system; so can galaxies. Organizations,
individual cells, communities of animals and plants, and families can all be
understood as systems. And systems can be nested within other systems.
• Interdependence – Human well being is inextricably bound with
environmental quality. Humans are a part of the natural order. We and the
systems we create—our societies, political systems, economies, religions,
cultures, technologies—impact the total environment. Since we are a part of
nature rather than outside it, we are challenged to recognize the ramifications
of our interdependence.
• The importance of where one lives – Beginning close to home, learners
forge connections with, explore, and understand their immediate
surroundings. The sensitivity, knowledge, and skills needed for this local
connection provide a base for moving out into larger systems, broader issues,
and an expanding understanding of causes, connections, and consequences.
• Integration and infusion – Disciplines from the natural sciences to the social
sciences to the humanities are connected through the medium of the
environment and environmental issues. Environmental education offers
opportunities for integration and works best when infused across the
curriculum, rather than being treated as a separate discipline or subject area.
• Roots in the real world – Learners develop knowledge and skills through
direct experience with the environment, environmental issues, and society.
Investigation, analysis, and problem solving are essential activities and are
most effective when relevant to the real world.
• Lifelong learning - Critical and creative thinking, decision-making, and
communication, as well as collaborative learning are emphasized. These
skills are essential for active and meaningful learning, both in school and
over a lifetime.
3.3. HOW THE GUIDELINES FOR LEARNING ARE ORGANIZED.
Excellence in Environmental Education – Guidelines for Learning (K-12) offers
a vision of environmental education that makes sense within the formal
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education system and promotes progress toward sustaining a healthy
environment and quality of life. Guidelines are suggested for each of three
grade levels – fourth, eighth, and twelfth. Each guideline focuses on one
element of environmental literacy, describing a level of skill or knowledge
appropriate to the grade level under which it appears. Sample performance
measures illustrate how mastery of each guideline might be demonstrated. The
guidelines are organized into four strands, each of which represents a broad
aspect of environmental education’s goal of environmental literacy.
3.3.1. Strand 1: Questioning and Analysis Skills
Environmental literacy depends on learners’ ability to ask questions, speculate,
and hypothesize about the world around them, seek information, and develop
answers to their questions. Learners must be familiar with inquiry, master
fundamental skills for gathering and organizing information, and interpret and
synthesize information to develop and communicate explanations.
I. Questioning
II. Designing investigations
III. Collecting information
IV. Evaluating accuracy and reliability
V. Organizing information
VI. Working with models and simulations
VII. Developing explanations
3.3.2. Strand 2: Knowledge of Environmental Processes and Systems
An important component of environmental literacy is understanding the
processes and systems that comprise the environment, including human systems
and influences. That understanding is based on knowledge synthesized from
across traditional disciplines. The guidelines in this strand are grouped in four
sub-categories.
Strand 2.1 – The Earth as a physical system
I. Processes that shape the Earth
II. Changes in matter
III. Energy
Strand 2.2 – The living environment
I. Organisms, populations, and communities
II. Heredity and evolution
III. Systems and connections
IV. Flow of matter and energy
Strand 2.3 – Humans and their societies
I. Individuals and groups
II. Culture
III. Political and economic systems
IV. Global connections
V. Change and conflict
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Strand 2.4 – Environment and society
I. Human/environment interactions
II. Places
III. Resources
IV. Technology
V. Environmental Issues
3.3.3. Strand 3: Skills for Understanding and Addressing Environmental Issues
Skills and knowledge are refined and applied in the context of environmental
issues. These environmental issues are real-life dramas where differing
viewpoints about environmental problems and their potential solutions are
played out. Environmental literacy includes the abilities to define, learn about,
evaluate, and act on environmental issues. This strand is subdivided in two.
Strand 3.1 - Skills for analyzing and investigating environmental issues
I. Identifying and investigating issues
II. Sorting out the consequences of issues
III. Identifying and evaluating alternative solutions and courses of action
IV. Working with flexibility, creativity, and openness
Strand 3.2 – Decision-making and citizenship
I. Forming and evaluating personal views
II. Evaluating the need for citizen action
III. Planning and taking action
IV. Evaluating the results of actions
3.3.4. Strand 4: Personal and Civic Responsibility
Environmentally literate citizens are willing and able to act on their own
conclusions about what should be done to ensure environmental quality. As
learners develop and apply concept-based learning and skills for inquiry,
analysis, and action, they also understand that what they do individually and in
groups can make a difference.
I. Understanding societal values and principles
II. Recognizing citizens’ rights and responsibilities
III. Recognizing efficacy
IV. Accepting personal responsibility
4. A Final Thought
Taken together, these Guidelines for Learning create a vision of environmental
literacy. A knowledgeable, skilled, and active citizenry is a key to resolving the
environmental issues that promise to face us in the years to come. For each
environmental issue there is not just one right answer or solution – there are
many perspectives and much uncertainty. A quality environmental education
program cultivates the ability to recognize uncertainty, envision alternative
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scenarios and adapt to changing conditions and information. This translates into
a citizenry that is better able to address its common problems and take advantage
of opportunities, whether environmental concerns are involved or not.
Excellence in Environmental Education – Guidelines for Learning (K-12), in
particular, and the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education,
in general, cannot “create” an environmentally literate citizenry. The project is
aimed at producing a series of tools that might help educators develop effective,
locally relevant environmental education programs. Environmental literacy does
not just happen. It requires a concerted effort of all those who care about quality
education and support the notion that students need to be prepared to make
informed decisions as individuals, as consumers, as workers and as members of
society.
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